ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1669-2163
Current Organisation
University Of Strathclyde
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Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 27-07-2023
Abstract: Many studies have reported that women show stronger preferences for male faces with masculine shapes when assessing men’s attractiveness for short-term than long-term relationships. However, these studies used face stimuli in which shape characteristics were experimentally manipulated and presented in forced-choice testing paradigms. Because of recent work suggesting results obtained using this approach do not necessarily occur when more ecologically valid methods are employed, we tested for this putative effect of relationship context on masculinity preferences when natural (i.e., unmanipulated) male face images were rated for attractiveness and face-shape masculinity was objectively assessed from the images. In two studies, one in which relationship context was a between-subjects factor and one in which relationship context was a within-subjects factor, we saw no compelling evidence that relationship context moderated women’s preferences for masculine face shapes. These null results suggest that the hypothesised effect of relationship context is, at best, very small when a study design with greater ecological validity than those employed in previous work is used. Furthermore, they add to a growing body of work raising concerns about the appropriateness of experimentally manipulated face stimuli and forced-choice paradigms for investigating the role of facial characteristics in mate preferences. This research was supported by ESRC grant ES/X000249/1 awarded to BCJ and a University of Strathclyde Global Research Award to JD. For the purpose of Open Access, the authors have applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 24-01-2023
Abstract: Dominance perceptions play an important role in social interactions. Although many researchers have proposed that shape masculinity is an important facial cue for dominance perceptions, evidence for this claim has come almost exclusively from studies that assessed perceptions of experimentally manipulated face images using forced-choice paradigms. Consequently, we investigated the role of masculine shape characteristics in perceptions of men’s facial dominance (1) using the forced-choice method and (2) when unmanipulated face images were rated for dominance and shape masculinity was measured from face images. Although we observed large positive effects of masculinity on dominance perceptions when we used the forced-choice method (Cohen’s ds = 2.51 and 3.28), the effect of masculinity on dominance perceptions was considerably smaller when unmanipulated face images were rated and shape masculinity measured from face images (Cohen’s ds = 0.44 and 0.62). This same pattern was observed when faces were rated separately for physical and social dominance and was seen for two different sets of stimuli. Collectively, these results suggest that previous research using the forced-choice method overstated the importance of face-shape masculinity for dominance perceptions and that shape masculinity is less important for dominance assessments of unmanipulated face images than previous research suggested. This research was supported by ESRC grant ES/X000249/1 awarded to BCJ, by ZintegrUJ travel grant POWR.03.05.00-00-Z309/17-00 awarded to UMM, and a University of Strathclyde Global Research Award to JD. For the purpose of Open Access, the authors have applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 30-03-2022
Abstract: There is growing concern that artificial intelligence (AI) conversational agents (e.g., Siri, Alexa) reinforce voice-based social stereotypes. Because little is known about social perceptions of conversational agents’ voices, we investigated the perceptual dimensions that underpin social perceptions of these synthetic voices and the role that acoustic parameters play in these perceptions. In Study 1 (N = 504), Principal Component Analysis of ratings of synthetic voices on a range of traits (trustworthiness, emotional stability, responsibility, sociability, caringness, attractiveness, intelligence, confidence, weirdness, unhappiness, meanness, aggressiveness, dominance, competence, age, masculinity, femininity) suggested that social perceptions of synthetic voices are underpinned by Valence and Dominance components that are highly similar to those previously reported for natural human stimuli. Study 1 also found that scores on the Dominance component were strongly and negatively related to voice pitch. Study 2 (N = 160) found that experimentally manipulating pitch in synthetic voices directly influenced perceptions of their dominance and aggressiveness, but not their competence or trustworthiness. Collectively, these results suggest that greater consideration of the role that voice pitch plays in dominance-related social perceptions when designing conversational agents will be effective in controlling stereotypic perceptions of their voices and the downstream consequences of those perceptions. (This research was supported by the EPSRC grant ‘Designing Conversational Assistants to Reduce Gender Bias’ EP/T023783/1, awarded to BCJ. Daria Altenburg was supported by Grant BOF.24Y.2019.0006.01 of Ghent University, awarded to Adriaan Spruyt.)
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Victor Shiramizu.